Storm over 'toxic waste' claim in Newbury
RESIDENTS are up in arms over what they claim could be toxic waste being dumped into a local watercourse.
Meanwhile the environmental campaign group Action for the River Kennet (ARK) has warned of potentially devastating consequences for the River Lambourn - a rare chalk stream supposedly enjoying the highest levels of protection.
But the Newbury Weekly News can reveal that the Environment Agency has admitted it is so underfunded that it can take no effective action.
People living near a construction site on Newbury Business Park on London Road began complaining last December of a sulphur smell and eye irritation, coinciding with obvious discolouration in the watercourse.
One of them, Michael Slater, said: "There appears to be a continuous stream of toxic waste getting into the local rivers, accompanied by a strong smell of sulphur - so strong in fact that employees on the Newbury Business Park experienced pain and stinging in their eyes.
"Usually there are crayfish, ducks, minnows and so on, in the stream.
"There is now no wildlife."
The stream runs into the Kennet and Avon Canal and eventually into the River Lambourn - a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
The NWN has seen an email from a West Berkshire Council officer which stated: "I was unable to see if this water was going through a silt buster before discharge, but the way it was happening, there is every chance it wasn’t.
"I spoke to a person in a workshop attached to Ham Mill and he said the pollution is like that pretty much every day that the contractors are working on site...the water clears at weekends".
ARK has posted on social media: "This polluted channel on the Business Park in Newbury feeds into the River Lambourn, a SSSI and a SAC...if you see pollution here please call the EA".
West Berkshire Council has confirmed it has received complaints but stated that the issue is one for the Environment Agency to deal with.
But an agency officer has written to residents stating: "Unfortunately, because the Environment Agency has received a budget cut compared to funds received last year, we are now only able to respond to the most serious environmental incidents.
"Therefore, we will not be taking any further action in this instance".
ARK spokeswoman Charlotte Hitchmough said: "The developers signed up to a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) which, it appears, is either inadequate or not being implemented."
The CEMP states: "Silty water will be treated to allow suspended solids to settle out before disposal.
"Treatment is likely to include settlement tanks (e.g. siltbuster).
"No direct discharges of liquids or materials into the nearby watercourses will be permitted."
KCL Contruction Group is the groundworks sub contractor engaged by the main site contractor, Eversmiths.
KCL has produced a report in response to the complaints which states: "All ground water abstracted from the excavation was passed through a Siltbuster...the water was visually inspected at all times to ensure that the Siltbuster was operating correctly and that the discharge water did not contain any suspended solids.
"Only when this was satisfied was water then discharged into the adjacent watercourse...we can confirm that no hazardous liquids or materials were discharged into the watercourse...any oils/fuels/chemicals on site and are situated away from any surface watercourses".
Ms Hitchmough added: "It's a case of them marking their own homework.
"Either the Siltbuster doesn't work or it's not being operated correctly.
"Trout will be spawning soon and they will suffocate if there's too much silt - and we won't even know if there's any other pollutant in the water.
"The reports of a sulphurous smell and eye irritation are very concerning."
n Have you experienced any eye pain when walking in the area?
Contact John Garvey at john.garvey@newburynews.co.uk
